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Europe

As both the Brexit talks in Brussels and the situation over the status of the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic dominates political news in the U.K., the negotiation teams of the two sides have made a concession for residents of Northern Ireland, whereby they can still be EU citizens after Brexit is finalised in two years’ time, the Independent reported recently.

UK citizens born in the province will be able to continue their EU membership thanks to a deal struck by British prime minister Theresa May on Friday morning. The deal is a further continuation of an older agreement between the UK and EU whereby Northern Irish residents can apply for a Irish Republic passport. Even after the UK’s withdrawal, this agreement will be allowed to continue, meaning a Northern Ireland-born person can adopt Irish citizenship and therefore take advantage of border-free travel with the EU, as the southern part of Ireland is remaining within the union.

“Both Parties acknowledge that the 1998 Agreement recognises the birth right of all the people of Northern Ireland to choose to be Irish or British or both and be accepted as such,” the joint text agreed by the two sides stated in quotes published by the Independent.

“The people of Northern Ireland who are Irish citizens will continue to enjoy rights as EU citizens, including where they reside in Northern Ireland.”

The EU Commission have also suggested that Irish citizens from both sides of the border resident in the province should also be able to continue enjoying their rights as EU citizens post-Brexit. The deal is part of a breakthrough in recent talks, which hit a stumbling block over the question of the Irish border. The UK and EU will now move on to discussing future trade agreements.

Earlier this year, specialists working at Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab announced at a conference held in the Dutch Caribbean territory of Sint-Maarten that bank robbers have found two new, and quite ingenious ways to target ATMs and relieve them of their cash deposits. The IT experts made a presentation in front of delegates at the Computer Security Summit Summit, held on the 4th of April, 2017, where they warned that thieves were upping their game in their attacks on automated bank tellers and gone were the days when all it took was a rope, a heavy-duty vehicle and a small amount of explosives to break into an ATM.

According to a report published in Spanish language online magazine tecnovedosos.com, sophisticated robbers now have two tactics at their disposal, cases of which have already been reported by banks in Russia and Europe. In many of these cases, the robberies only took a matter of seconds.

The first tactic reported by security specialists involves a small hole being drilled into the ATM keypad without triggering the machine’s automatic security sensors. A hacker then uses special equipment to directly access the onboard computer. The hacker then decodes the machine’s electronic signals, essentially forcing the machine to electronically hand over all its cash. The ATM is emptied of its cash reserves by the robbers. This tactic exploits a vulnerability in a certain model of ATM, manufactured by a single company, though which company it was was not mentioned by the Kaspersky Lab researchers.

The second tactic involves a more elaborate and far-reaching approach targeting the bank itself. Malicious cybercriminals target the bank’s IT systems with a powerful virus that targets the part of the network that manages the ATMs. Once the virus is entrenched, it is remotely activated by the criminals using the bank’s own systems. A command is sent out by the virus to the ATMs to release their cash reserves. The robber needs then only to pay a visit to the compromised ATM and withdraw all the money, a procedure that takes only a few minutes and will not arouse the suspicions of bank security staff, and also cuts out the risk associated with traditional bank robberies involving ‘stick-ups’, in the eyes of criminals.

The ATMs are compromised by robbers quite easily and once the heist is complete, the hackers wipe out the virus to cover their tracks. The virus, known as ATMitch, has been reported by banks hacked into in Russia and neighbouring Kazakhstan.

In the UK, no such cases have yet been reported involving these tactics. Most ATMs are zeroued in on by less technologically savvy robbers who resort to blowing up cash machines or ripping them out of walls. In the past few years, some fraudsters have adopted a more scientific approach, involving attaching special skimming devices to the card reader slots of ATMs, which masquerade as part of the machine and catch people’s card details and PINs, which the robbers gather from the device and then empty the victims’ accounts. Others have been caught attaching pinhole cameras which watch people enter their PINs. ATM users are advised to always shield their PINs when using cash machines, and to be wary of people standing over them or observing them using the keypad.

You are probably right now in the midst of booking your summer break to somewhere in Europe. Perhaps it is somewhere well-known, cultural, fun and touristy. Some place like Barcelona, London, Venice, Valletta oreven Belgrade. However, maybe you want to sample a different, new and off-the-beaten-track destination this time round. How about Hell, in Norway, Piles in Spain, or God forbid, the simple hamlet of Twatt in the Orkney Islands, off Scotland. While visiting destinations with giggle-inducing names might give Instagram bragging rights to some teens, most families would baulk at the idea of visiting a place name that sounds like an intimate body part. Step forward, flight company Monarch, has launched a campaign as part of their ‘Year of Nice’ to encourage people to get over their misgivings and give places like Windpassing (there are four of them in Austria’s Niederoesterreich region) a chance, as they are often locales with beautiful scenery and attractions to discover.

One in six British holidaymakers would be put off going to a place if it had an unsavoury name. Yet they are missing out on some truly unique places. Why not take a seat in Piles, in Spain’s sunny Valencia region, not too far from the Costas of the Catalan coast and the arty metropolis of Barcelona. Despite it’s name’s awkward resemblance to a painful condition, Piles is very comfortable, with its own clean and flat beach. Also in Spain, you can head over to Andalusia and visit the traditional town of El Moron, a decision that will not make you look like an idiot. Ironically, El Moron has produced one of Spain’s most eminent archaeologists, so it is clearly not a town of tanned hicks.

For staycations closer to home, try the hamlet of Nasty in Hertfordshire, an hour’s or so drive from London. This picturesque and quintessentially English cluster of twenty or so buildings is anything but nasty, and many Londoners have in fact moved there to take advantage of the fresh rural air and bucolic countryside, even if they are reluctant to tell their friends in the big city where exactly they have upped sticks too.

For more oddly-named villages and towns to inspire you, take a look at the video below, featuring presenter Laura Hamilton.

As some sections of society in Europe become agitated at the prospect of the continent being a final place of safety for thousands of refugees fleeing among other things, the Daesh and civil war in Syria, a tweet starkly illustrates a taste of why so many people are running for their lives and risking everything. Above is a bombed out boulevard somewhere in Syria. Now is a time for compassion, not xenophobia.

Like most young British men (and women), I am very fond of kebabs, the Turkish, Greek and Central Asianfast food delicacy of meat and vegetables in a bread pocket. Since the doner kebab and its equally delicious siblings began appearing on the high streets here in the 1970s, the food has become a staple of pub crawls, family get-togethers and football matches.

So, when I was shown this video by my sister yesterday, which is usually kebab night for me, I just had to share this with you as a kebab fan. I’m also a chocaholic, so when this video began playing, I was shocked and pleased in equal measure that two of my greatest culinary loves had been fused into one delicious, mouth-watering and calorie-saturated snack.

Give a big round of applause to the Choco Kebab. Hailing from Italy, which has a large Afghan and Turkish populations famed for their greasy meat in rolls, this kebab replaces the spinning cylinder of processed lamb or chicken with one of white and milk chocolate. The cook shears off curls of chocolate with a special implement and packs them into a crepe, rather than the usual pitta or naan. The accompanying mayonnaise, chill sauce and ketchup is replaced with Nutella, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and other sweet treats.

This unique kebab is sold around the world, according to the video above, but I have never encountered anyone selling it here, and I live in London, one of the most adventurous cities for food in Europe. I’m now tempted to buy a van, empty the local stores of all their chocolate and party snacks, and become the richest chocolate kebab entrepreneur this side of the Adriatic.

Part 3 of the Half-Eaten Mind’s series on animated ccTLDflags now arrives on the shores of Europe, a linguistically and historically diverse continent with a rich history of flags too. Many of Europe’s flags have religious and heraldric meanings, as it was in this continent that such devices as coats-of-arms and banners for military use were developed.

The world’s oldest flag design still in continuous use is the “Dannebrog“, the national flag of the kingdom of Denmark. This Christian inspired flag, featuring a white long-armed cross on a red field has a pedigree of several hundred years, and took its present form design in 1625. The world’s only square national flag is found here, representing Switzerland.

Europe also has a much smaller claim to fame. It is the continent where the Half-Eaten Mind operates from.

We bring you the waving flags of the European continent, including a nod to one of the most impressive projects of intra-national unity and co-operation in recent history – the European Union. You may notice that the flags for Jersey and Guernsey look different from the others. I was unable to find the TLD flags for the two Channel Islands so made do with close alternatives from one the websites I extracted some of the flags from. This also applies to the other crown dependency of the Isle of Man.

Interestingly enough, on an Arabic language forum, I came across two strange examples, one with a Scottish flag but the TLD for Spain (.es) (some sources attribute the flag to Tenerife island in the Canaries, which would explain the .es tag) and a blank ‘white flag’ with no text. On the Maple Royals forum, for players of the MapleStory online game, I came across a user whose forum signature had a previously undiscovered forum flag for the province of Friesland (Frisia or Fryslan) in the Netherlands. Its distinctive flag of red hearts and blue diagonal stripes on a white field soon found a home in my collection. It appears to have been made by someone influenced by the original designer and is not one of the original set of flags that at the end of the last decade.

During further research, I found forum postings from 2008 on Xenforo, another forum development platform, where a user named SchmitzIT made available some attachments for downloading of these GIFs, alongside instructions on how to power them up for your own forum. He attributed these flags to a web graphic designer with the tag name ‘Cobro’, who was working with VBulletin, another popular provider of forum software solutions. Sadly, despite registering for the site, I was unable to get access to the downloads. The user had also made available a single sample of the flags, that one being for the U.S.A.

The board of trustees for the museum, based at the Schloss Hubertendorf (castle) in Blindenmarkt, a small town around 5 kilometres from Amstetten in central Austria, have organised the first ever such biennale for contemporary arts in Austria in a bid to increase networking and exposure to those engaged in the artistic life. The event will also offer up and coming contemporary artists across Europe and the world a unique and sympathetic chance to showcase their best pieces to a discerning international audience.

(c) MAMAG

The Schloss, which is a large stately home built in 1614 by a local knight, Georg Löffler on old farming lands and a disused mill, was chosen as the Biennale’s venue by MAMAG for its rustic charm, and its relevance as a European hotspot for old and new art and culture, according to the museum’s website.

Details on which artists will be exhibiting are not yet available as the Biennale is still in the very earliest stages of preparation. However the company’s Twitter account has a pinned tweet dated the 11th April, calling on artists to enter submissions for the Biennale this August. Visitors are also being offered free entry during the festival’s opening hours of 11:00 am to 6:00 pm local time.

The MAMAG museum is a privately owned art museum for modern and contemporary art in Lower Austria. Much of the pieces held in situ are by local Pop Art artist Tanja Playner. The museum regularly organises special exhibitions on modern art, photography, scenic views and panoramas, lithographic works, sculptures and mixed media contemporary art.

MAMAG will also be playing host to the International Modern Art Fair of Austria at the Schloss Neuberg in Loeffelbach on the 11-19 July, 2015.

The colloquium is being organised in conjunction with the 12th ASEMForeign Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM FMM12), an important regional political meeting being held at the same time also in Luxembourg. A specially selected number of 25 practicing journalists from Asia and Europe to come together to discuss and learn different approaches, skills and tools used in crisis reporting from Asian and European perspectives.

(c) ASEF via Journalism.co.uk/Mousetrap Media.

From public health crises such as the E. Coli out breakout of 2011 in Germany, to environmental disasters such as the devastating 2013 cyclone Haiyan that struck the Philippines and this weekend’s earthquake in Nepal and India, the attendees will learn and build upon their understanding of the many issues these crises pose for Asian and European media. The recent terror attacks in places like France, and the ongoing war in Iraq and Syria also pose many challenges for reporters.

This colloquium will enable journalists to share their perspectives and best practices regarding international and regional challenges during crisis reporting from the different regional perspectives, as well as definitively understanding the role of the European and Asian media in reporting and witnessing such profound events. Journalists from ASEM countries (members of the Asia-Europe Meeting) can qualify to answer the call for applications. A list of participating ASEM nations can be found at http://www.aseminfoboard.org/members

Participating media professionals will see their recommendations and the event’s highlights published as the ASEF Media Handbook, which will be a ready reference for Asian and European journalists as well as for research and civil society organisations working in the field.

Founded in 1997, ASEF fosters understanding and dialogue between European and Asian countries through intellectual, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. This is with the goal to help encourage the growth of common development and stability, as well as contributing to world peace and prosperity. The Foundation particularly focusses on matters of concern such as war and famine in addition, and offers a range of collaborative events including seminars, workshops, conferences, lecture tours and exhibitions. In the past seventeen years, ASEF has seeded over 650 projects involving 17,000 direct participants over the two continents.

Interested journalists from ASEM countries can apply to take part at the colloquium. Application information can be found here: http://bit.ly/ASEFJC10

Travel (by economy class only) to and from Luxembourg and nearby hotel accommodation will be provided by the organisers for participants selected to attend this unique event. All applications should be submitted online by Tuesday, 12 May 2015, at the link above.

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HEM NEPAL EARTHQUAKE APPEAL

As many of you are well aware, Nepal was struck yesterday by the worst earthquake to be witnessed in its recent history. More than 1,200 people have lost their lives, mainly in Nepal, but also in India and Bangladesh. Much of the tourism infrastructure in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu has been obliterated, and thousands more are injured and without homes, food, and blankets for the harsh cold nights there.

The Half-Eaten Mind has joined forces with the international development charity Oxfam to support them in their Emergency Appeal. The top of the sidebar has a special link to Oxfam Great Britain’s giving page, where you can make donations securely via credit and debit card or PayPal. I am not aware if givers from outside the U.K. can donate via this link, but if you cannot, then please support any charities helping Nepal in your country.

Twenty-five years ago, the heavily fortifiedBerlin Wallthat divided east and westBerlinand the capitalist world from the communist one, was breached and the two Germanys were reunited. Now a quarter of a century later, an art project named “Lichtgrenze” – the border of light – will mark this historical milestone with eight thousand glowingballoonsacross an eight mile (fifteen kilometre) stretch of the once heavily guarded and fortified border that separated Berlin for thirty years. The white glowing orbs will remain in place until this Sunday, when they will be set free from their tethers and allowed to rise into the sky. The balloons’ release will mark the pivotal moment on the 9th of November, 1989, when a garbled speech at a news conference by a senioreast Berlincommunist official – the Politburo spokesmanGünter Schabowski -, began the chain of events that pulled down one of the most potent and controversial symbols of the Cold War. The opening wide of theEast Germanborder heralded the removal of one-party governments across eastern Europe. Poland soon elected its first non-communist prime minister and Hungary’s new government tore down its own border fences. Once the announcement was given, hundreds of east Berliners surged across the newly liberated border. Guards, who once had instructions to shoot on sight any escapees, were said to have been powerless to stop the crowds and let them through without any obstacle. One of the émigrés was current German chancellorAngela Merkel, who at that time was employed as a physicist.

Lichtgrenze balloons on mounts running the length of an autobahn alongside a section of the Berlin Wall. (c) imgur

“Even today when I walk through the Brandenburg Gate, there’s a residual feeling that this wasn’t possible for many years of my life, and that I had to wait 35 years to have this feeling of freedom,” Merkel said last week, according to theSan Diego Union-Tribune. “That changed my life.“

West and East Germany were formally reunified for the first time since the end of theSecond World Waron the 3rd October 1990, just under a year after the breaching of the Wall.

The route of the glowing balloons of the Lichtgrenze will snake past well known landmarks across the old divide, includingCheckpoint Charlie(the border crossing between the wartimeSovietandBritish-Americanzones), theBrandenburg Gate(one of Berlin’s most recognised landmarks) and theGermanparliamentary building, the Reichstag. Many of the lit balloons, which resemble old-fashioned street lighting, will be affixed to the top of the wall’s remnants as well as local bridges adjoining the old border. The 25th anniversary will see celebrations across Germany as it marks not only the collapse of communism but also the beginning of its rise to becoming a European powerhouse and a prominent leader within the EU.

An aerial photo of the Lichtgrenze installation across the former border that split Berlin (c) imgurA line of glowing white balloons lined up outside the famous Berliner landmark, the Brandenburg gate (c) imgur

The light installation was organised and designed by brothers Marc andChristopher Bauder. In an interview with the BritishDaily Mailnewspaper, Marc said: “We wanted to counter this ominous, heavy structure with something light.

‘Remembrance belongs to the people.“

Much of the Berlin Wall still stands, albeit in broken portions, as a reminder of how far the city has come since its divided days. The wall was originally built as a defensive measure but was also intended to prevent east Berliners from fleeing to the West. Turrets with armed guards and attack dogs watched over the ‘no man’s land’ that split the city, gunning down anyone that dared to escape. A total of 138 people were killed along the Berlin wall from 1961 until 1989 as they tried to flee, some just months before peaceful protests opened the border. German reunification in 1989 saw jubilant crowds tear down parts of the war and stream through openings and border crossings. Much of the remaining structure is now adorned with graffiti celebrating both the city’s vibrant arts scene and hopes for peace.

The mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, inaugurated the Lichtgrenze light installation and its 8,000 ‘Luftballons’ on the evening of 7th November 2014 (yesterday) in a solemn address to the public near theGerman parliament, the Reichstag. Hundreds of the city’s residents clustered together in the sharp German cold to watch a film on the history of the Wall. For many, it was an emotional, yet stoic, time of remembrance of a city once-divided by wartime machinations and political alliances.

The ongoing battle between Ukrainian national forces and pro-Russian separatists has intensified around the eastern city of Slovyansk, reports agency journalists working with the Balkans division of news network Al-Jazeera today.

Clashes between the Ukrainian army and separatists, among them fighters allied with the self-declared People’s Republic of Donetsk, intensified in the vicinity of Donetsk’s international airport, which was this week subject to bombing by the national army as it seeks to wrest control back from the occupiers, who desire union with the Russian Federation.

Caption:DONETSK, UKRAINE – MAY 26: A pro-Russian separatist fighter take position outside the Donetsk airport, the scene of an hours-long battle between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, on May 26, 2014 in Donetsk Ukraine. A day after businessman Petro Poroshenko won Ukraine’s presidential election, separatists occupied the airport, leading to a military response. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

According to the Anatolian News Agency (Anadolu), Ukrainian troops had penetrated the airport amid fierce resistance from occupying forces. The sounds of warning sirens were reported and ‘strong’ detonations rang out over the local area. Combatants of the two sides then began fighting.

Slovyansk, also known as Sloviansk and Slavjansk, has already seen large numbers of its residents flee the fighting, while remaining residents spent the last few nights seeking shelter in basements and hastily constructed bomb shelters as they fear the battle spreading to the streets of the industrial city, an epicentre of Ukraine’s large Russian-speaking minority. Some of the fiercest clashes have occurred in the surburban village of Semenovka.

The Ukrainian armed forces say they have carried out their operations in Slovyansk in order to gain a foothold in the restive east and commence ‘anti-terrorism’ operations to flush out separatists, especially those entrenched in the main city of Donetsk. Around two hundred children and twenty-one families had fled Slovyansk for the Crimea after an attack was launched on a local hospital.

The media centre of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk claimed that at least six members of the pro-Russian forces have been killed in clashes within the past twenty-four hours. Last week, a Ukrainian helicopter was shot down over the area, killing several soldiers and a high-ranking commander and dozens of pro-Russian separatists have also died or been evicted. The Ukrainian bid to reclaim Donetsk airport is believed to have resulted in the deaths of fifty militants on the Russian side.

The civil war in Ukraine began earlier this year after Viktor Yanukovich, the pro-Russian president of the Ukraine was overthrown in a popular revolution fuelled by Ukrainian speakers’ desires to forge closer links with the European Union and move away from dependency on Russia. After a series of protests marred by killings and atrocities, Yanukovich fled the country and allegedly resurfaced in the Russian capital Moscow. Russian speakers in the east of Ukraine, its industrial heartland, feared being sidelined by the new government and began demanding referenda and union with their compatriots across the border. Separatists began occupying police stations and government buildings in the cities of Luhansk, Donetsk and Slovyansk. Russian speakers in the Crimean peninsula also rose up against the post-revolution government in Kiev and later the whole of the area, once part of Russia and gifted to Ukraine during the Soviet era and recently home to the Russian Black Sea navy fleet, was first occupied by separatists then annexed formally by the Russians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of aiding and abetting the separatists in eastern Ukraine, which he has denied. However, people dressed in Russian military uniforms and armed with weapons sourced from the country have been sighted in the war zone. Mercenaries from as far away as Chechnya have also been reportedly spotted. Russia however has largely rebuffed the separatists’ demands to unite with them, and the Russian President has instead proposed talks aimed at settling the crisis and giving greater autonomy to eastern Ukraine. Both the previous and current governments in Kiev have vowed to end the rebellion. Both the occupation of the Crimea and alleged Russian backing of the separatist movements in eastern Ukraine have been condemned by both the European Union and the United States.